Love Is Long Suffering

(Psa 145:8 KJV)  The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.

(Proverbs 2 also read)

God is capable of great wrath.  We know that He came down hard on Israel.  What we often forget when people are talking about the violence of God is that little phrase in this verse, “slow to anger”.  Remember that God is love.  Remember the first quality of love in I Corinthians, patience or long suffering.

Imagine if we actually received justice for our actions and attitudes.  The world would not be concerned about over-population.  There would be even more “Help Wanted” signs.  God is patient but keep in mind that He does have His limits.

So?  Live with an attitude of obedience, confession and repentance.  You will have nothing to fear.  

Happy, Happy

(Psa 135:6 KJV)  Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.

(Proverbs 24 also read)

I sometimes wonder if God ever gets bored.  What does He do in His spare time?  Does He have any spare time?  Here we are told that He does whatever “pleased” (2654) Him to do.  The root of the word indicates delight.  If you read through the rest of the chapter you find that His pleasure ranges from lightning bolts to destroying pagan kings.  Maybe He never gets bored.

This is another indication of the nature of God.  He is not an impersonal force.  He is not a hand carved, gilded rock.  He is a person.  He is the great I AM.  The really strange part of all this is that He seems to care about us.  That caring is not only corporate but individual.

So?  Rejoice when you see a lighting bolt or watch the trees dance in the wind.  Also be glad that you are not a pagan king.  

Stepping Down

(Psa 113:6 KJV)  Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!

As I was reading this chapter my mind went into “get through it” mode and I just read through this verse.  The Holy Spirit checked me and made me go back.  I had assumed that this was either a question or referring to a man speaking.  No, it was God speaking and that struck me as odd.

When you read scripture, keep your mind engaged including your baloney meter.  I am ot saying you will find baloney in the Bible but the awareness will wake you up to tensions in the text.  The NASB takes this as a question and the KJV a statement of fact.  I imagine you can take it either way so we might have another both/and situation.

How does God humble himself and why does this means He humbles Himself?  I think this is a clue to the difficult question of the relationship between God and time and comes into our daily investigations when we try to reconcile God’s foreknowledge and man’s free will.  The word “humbled” (8213) has the idea of stepping down.  There is a real sense in which God must step down to deal with our universe.  We are familiar with the idea that we cannot look into the face of God without being consumed by His glory.  Is it possible that the same principle applies to all of creation?

So?  However you want to look it it God is involved with His creation I hope we don’t bore Him too much.  

A Further Clarification

(Psa 96:4 KJV)  For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.
(Psa 96:5 KJV)  For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.

I am sure I have written about this somewhere in the past year but this addresses the question of whether Yahweh is unique or just top God.  

Notice in verse 4 that it is only declaring that He is above the others.  That could leave open the possibility that there are other gods.  Such an opinion is shut off when you read the next verse.  The word for “idols” (457) has the meaning of worthless.  It is a clear declaration that they are just inanimate stone or dead wood.

So?  Rest easy.  There may be demons running around but there is only one God.  Worship Him.

Get the Focus

(Psa 79:9 KJV)  Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.

(Proverbs 30 also read)

I am not sure how to take this idea of being concerned for the “glory” (3519a) of God’s name.  They know God’s name, Yahweh but they only use it once in this chapter in verse 5.  In reality, God’s glory does not depend on the survival of Israel.  That is even more true today.  The only people who would blame God for the destruction of modern Israel are some hard-core Christians who think it is the proof of prophecy.  The Zionists are mainly atheists so they would not care about God’s glory.  The Muslims worship Allah so they would not care about Yahweh’s name.

This can be another way of trying to manipulate God.  I don’t know that I have ever used it but I am sure it is common.  We need to understand that God is more concerned about His holiness than about someone’s concern that He look good.

So?  The important part of this verse is the second part, repentance.  Don’t forget that.  

Familiarity Causes Blindness

Psalm 31:16 (KJV) Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake.

As I was reading this Psalm I found myself falling into the trap of the Old Shoe.  We get so used to the love of God and the glorious attributes He displays that we forget how unique He is.  He comes across as one of a kind, which is appropriate, since He is one of a kind.

Consider the supernatural creatures you have experienced in horror movies and products of the fantasy genre.  They generate fear, but the fear they are out to create is not the fear of awe and respect but the fear of terror and panic.

Yahweh is capable of tremendous wrath and can dispense calamity but that is not who He is.  Those actions are the result of degenerate behavior on the part of people who should know better.  The gods of fantasy inflict pain because they enjoy watching people squirm.

So?  Get serious about knowing the living God.  He will give you a foundation in life as well as eternity.  

The Overwhelming Attribute

Psalm 136:1 (KJV) O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

(Proverbs 6 also read)

If you just glance down this Psalm, one thing that stands out is the final phrase that talks about God’s mercy. It is in every verse. “Mercy” is my favorite Hebrew word. I prefer the translation of “loving kindness”. This is like the statement in John that “God is love.”

Does God have other attributes? Of course. He is not a caricature. He is the living God. Loving kindness is the repeated attribute that governs all the others. Keep in mind that you must not define this with pagan understanding but with a Biblical view.

So? Even though God is holy and righteous, He is essentially a God of love. One does not rule out the other in the culture of heaven.

Look No Farther

Are you looking for an understatement?  Look no further,

Psalm 92:5 (KJV) O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.

(Proverbs 13 also read)

God’s thoughts are deep.  Yes, I would say so.  That is not the profound part of this.  What touches my heart today is that God is willing to lower Himself enough to be receptive to my feeble words.  My grandson was over and when he gets going it is impossible to understand him.  There have never been times when I wished for the gift of tongues but I have yearned for the gift of ears.

God does not have that problem and that is another reason to rejoice.

So?  Speak to Him freely from your heart.  Try to express yourself for your benefit but rest in the assurance that He understands beyond what we can ask or think.  

Past Due

Psalm 78:38 (KJV) But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.

(Proverbs 25 also read)

Pagans and atheist love to accuse the God of the Old Testament of being full of wrath.  They like to say that the God of the New Testament is totally different.  As I have said other places, they overlook the extreme patience that God exhibited in withholding punishment from Israel.

This verse points out that reality.  Israel had deserved and earned abundantly God’s wrath.  They deserved to be punished.  They had it coming, so to speak.  In spite of that God withheld His revenge.  But even God eventually is brought to the point of disciplining His people.

Did He withhold His wrath because there was a faithful remnant?  Did that remnant wander to the point where He realized there was no one left to shelter?  We don’t know why He finally discipline them, but He did.

So?  God is incredibly patient.  He was patient with Israel.  He is patient with us.  On one side that should bring joy to your heart, but it should also remind you not to think you’re going to take advantage of His kindness.  Live in righteousness.  Walk upright.  Glorify your God.  

How Involved Is God?

Psalm 65:9 (KJV) Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it.

When I read a verse like this, I think about the involvement of God, not only in our lives, but in the natural world that surrounds us.  Paul tells us that Christ is actively maintaining the world.  I sometimes think about Him, supervising the electrons as the orbit around the nucleus in the atoms of the universe.  Here I’m looking at the grain.  I find myself wondering just how involved He is in things.

Is God so infinitely involved that He supervises the development of each kernel of grain that grows?  If you want to feel the awesomeness of God and how beyond our understanding He is then convince yourself that He could do this and that He actually does.  That is how much potential He has.  My real question is not whether He can, it’s whether He does.

I tend to think that there are many things in our world that He sets up and puts in motion with some kind of alarm to inform Him when something is going wrong and then concentrate on more important things.  At the same time, I know that He is so extensive that it would be no big deal for Him to supervise each one.

So?  In our daily lives, it doesn’t make much difference which way it goes.  What does make a difference is it gives us a chance to meditate on His characteristics and attributes.  That can be very beneficial  

Apprentice or Master?

Psalm 54:4 (KJV) Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is  with them that uphold my soul.

It would be very easy to take the first part of this verse and put God in the position of being the hod carrier in building my life.  In case you’ve never been around construction, the hod carrier is the guy who carries the mortar up the ladder and dumps it in a place where the mason can use it.  He is the mason’s helper.  Too many people put God in that category.

Instead, you should look at this as the concept of the therapeutic nurse helping you get out of bed because it’s time for you to go to your exercises.  You are helpless or almost helpless.  You’re not going to be able to function at the level to which you need to function unless someone helps you.

That’s where God comes in.

So?  Are you guilty of looking at God is your servant?  It’s a serious question and a serious issue. Make sure you can give us a serious answer.

And God Said

Psalm 29:9 (KJV) The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.

(Proverbs 26 also read)

I got almost all the way through this chapter before I got the connection.  I think it was the idea of the “hinds”, or deer”, calving that brought it to me.  Remember in Genesis how God spoke things into existence.  He would say things like “let there be light”.  That’s all it took, then we take the passage I believe in Colossians that talks about how Jesus holds everything together and you get this picture of God declaring what things are going to happen and they happen.

So you see this is not just a figure of speech, there is a literal element to it.  If you think about some of the creation accounts of pagan religions, and how to gods would be fighting and one would cut off the others head and man and woman would jump out.  In the Bible is simply a matter of God declaring.  What a difference.

So?  What is God declaring for you today?  Listen carefully or you might miss it.

Start with a Name

Psalm 9:10 (KJV) And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

(Proverbs 10 also read)

I have been slowly working through the book of Revelation and trying to understand what it’s saying.  It is an uphill grind.  The book of Revelation specializes in hiding its meaning.  Here I find a refreshing reminder of who God is and how He works with us.  Notice that there is a promise here.  It promises that God will not forsake us if we are seeking him.

But notice the condition of this promise:  We must be people who know His name.  Names were important in the period of the Old Testament.  They told you something about the person.  They laid a foundation for a relationship.  You might give different people different names and only tell your real name to an inner circle.

We see that in this verse, God has given us His real name.  In our translations it comes across as “LORD”.  Turn back to Exodus and remind yourself of how God said that this was His name and how that comes across as meaning, “I am”.  God exists.  The essence of His name is that He exists.  We are required to know that.

So?  Do you know that God exist?  Have you reached out and trusted in him?  He has promised not to forsake you.  He is.  He was.  He will be.  

Our Source

Psalm 124:8 (KJV) Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

(Proverbs 5 also read)

I’ve been having a great time this morning just thinking about all of the ramifications of worshiping a God who is the great “I AM”.  The One who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  The One that we keep trying to put in a box, but He keeps His box cutter handy or just teleports out.  And then I came across this.

This God who was capable of making the entire universe is our help.  Stop and think about that a moment.  I remember the big fancy theological words of “imminent” and “transcendent”.  Those are fancy words.  What they mean is that God is both out there and in here.

So?  Relax and rejoice in the knowledge that even though the creator of the universe is beyond our comprehension and our touch, we are not beyond His.  He has reached out to us.  (Posted, January 5, 2026, PP)

Modeling Behavior

1 Corinthians 13:4 (KJV) Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

(Proverbs 15 also read)

It’s strange being caught between the witness of the love chapter and the retribution of Jeremiah chapter 9.  Both speak of the nature of our God.  We often hear about how violent the Old Testament is and how God is so full of wrath while Jesus is love.  It’s a phony contrast.  Keep in mind that the Old Testament covers over 1000 years and you are witnessing centuries of God’s patience before He finally acts.  In the New Testament you’re talking about decades.  Patience requires time to be demonstrated.

I actually like the KJV here in the sense that it says that patience means “long suffering”.  God has definitely suffered long.  He endured the disobedience and rebellion of Israel year after year after year.  He sent prophet after prophet.  He pleaded with them.  They went merrily on their way and eventually they paid the price.

God is also patient with us.

So?  Again, I say don’t push your luck.  God is patient.  He has long suffering.  He will give us every benefit of the doubt.  Eventually, we will force him to move.  I pray that He would move in the direction of salvation.  

Even Birds

Psalms 50:11 (KJV) I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.

(Proverbs 14 also read)

I hope you spend some time contemplating the incredible riches of God’s wisdom, and love.  I hope you meditate on the fact that He reaches out to us mere humans.  Yes, we are created in His image but we’ve also far short of the glory of God.

This verse gives a little more insight into the majesty of God.  Not only is He aware of us but He knows all the fields in the mountains and all the birds.  The word “know” here is the Hebrew word yada, which means to know very well.  God is involved in His creation.

So?  If God has time for the birds, then I would suggest that He has time for you. Take advantage of that.  

Of No Consequence

Jeremiah 10:5 (KJV) They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

We tend to get consumed with some superstitious nonsense.  How often are we careful not to offend other people because of their religious beliefs?  I think of how we are afraid to even touch the Muslim holy book, the Quran.  I think of how they riot when they think someone has insulted that book.  I think about houses of worship, dedicated to pagan gods or to Satan.  The word God is giving to Jeremiah is to set those things aside.  They themselves cannot do evil nor good.

So?  Keep reminding yourself.  There is only one God.  Yes, there are demonic forces.  Yes, there is a devil.  But there is only one God, and as God, He trumps any minor influence they might have.  Live in peace from that aspect of life.  You may have to worry about scorpions, but you don’t need to worry about idols dedicated to scorpions.  

Are You Following Me?

Psalms 139:8 (KJV) If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

(Proverbs 8 also read)

The mosquitoes have decided that I was worth sucking blood from.  The sun was up and the warm air was starting to stir and make things uncomfortable.  I decided it was time to go in.  In the spirit of frivolity, I bid the Lord adieu and start it toward the door.  Rabbit trails can strike at any moment.

As I was moving toward the door, it occurred to me that even though I went inside the house, I did not mean that God was going to stay out on the porch.  He’s already seen the sunrise, knew every color that would be exhibited.  He didn’t have to worry about the mosquitoes.  And He wasn’t going to stay out there and let me think that I got off on my own.  God accompany me as I went through the door and back to my room to change my environment.

That is a lighthearted way of reminding me, and, possibly you, God is with us wherever we go.  We can’t get away from Him.  Of course, that brings up the question of, why would we want to?

So?  Rejoice in the awesome presence of Almighty God.  And keep in mind that, although the Bible doesn’t use the word, we look at God as being omnipresent. 

My House or Yours?

Proverbs 12:7 (KJV) The wicked are overthrown, and are not: but the house of the righteous shall stand.

As I read this promise of God, it came to me that I didn’t know what kind of house he meant.  Many times the nation is referred to when it refers to a house.  Sometimes it might be the building where I live.  It could be a family.  Which is it here?  Answer is, “Yes.”

It’s all of the above depending on the situation.  Keep in mind that the United States of America is nowhere found in scripture and is not qualified to be the chosen people.  Neither you, nor I have any special DNA qualification from God.

The principle still stands.  The house of the righteous will endure and be preserved.  That can apply to us as a nation, in spite of not being the chosen.  It can apply to you as an individual, even though you are not God’s golden boy.

So?  Be encouraged.  I don’t expect to know all the answers.  It’s a limitation of our minds and our bodies.  Trust that God is not bound by our limitations, but we are blessed by His lack of the same. 

Names Matter

Psalms 29:2 (KJV) Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

(Proverbs 18 also read)

This is one place where I think the new Bible translation, the Legacy Standard Bible, has an advantage.  You’ll notice in the KJV and the NASB that the word “LORD” is in all capitals.  That designates that this is the Hebrew word for Yahweh, which is sometimes translated “Jehovah”.  In the LSB they have decided that, instead of capitalizing the word Lord, they would actually put in a transliteration of the Hebrew word.

What this does is it makes it more personal.  When you saw the definite article, it became a proper noun instead of a general designation.  If you were a Jew of ancient times, you would recognize Yahweh as a term rooted in the verb “to be”.  So when you are saying, give Yahweh the glory to His name, which is Yahweh, you understand better.  The great glory that Israel had in their God was that He existed.

What a fundamental truth.  The God of the Bible is different from all other gods in many ways, but the key element of it all is, He is.

So?  When you give God glory start off with a deep felt acknowledgment that He is really there and that He hears your praise and your thanksgiving.